The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Colombia Tolima Los Brasiles Peaberry Organic coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• The Mysterious Billionaire Boss at Jane Street Smashing Trading Records: The firm’s secrecy-loving co-founder is raking in money faster than he can spend it on Burning Man, his own casino and, unwittingly, an African coup. (Bloomberg)
• The Cons (and Pros) of Vanguard’s Decision to Offer Private Equity: Of all possible Vanguard additions, private equity seemed to be about the least likely. Vanguard serves mostly retail clients, with publicly traded securities, in liquid funds that carry very low expense ratios. In contrast, private equity investments are largely institutional, aren’t traded, and are owned by illiquid funds that are notably expensive. The fit, to put the matter gently, is not obvious (Morningstar)
• iRobot Founder: Don’t Believe The (AI & Robotics) Hype! We are in the middle of another massive technological wave, thanks to generative artificial intelligence and its offshoot, robotics. A tanker load of money is being poured into these two areas, and it has come with increasingly breathless promotional activity. It warrants a reality check. (Crazy Stupid Tech)
• Tech Bro 2.0: The new Silicon Valley archetype dominating the AI age: He’s not what he used to be. He’s jacked, cracked, and thinks he might save America. (San Francisco Standard)
• How Derren Brown Remade Mind Reading for Skeptics: The mentalist’s manipulation techniques give people too sophisticated to believe in the paranormal something quasi-scientific to hang on to. (New Yorker)
• AI isn’t replacing radiologists: Radiology combines digital images, clear benchmarks, and repeatable tasks. But demand for human radiologists is at an all-time high. (The Works In Progress Newsletter)
• How a Group of Students in the Pacific Islands Reshaped Global Climate Law: They watched climate change ravage their home countries as rich, polluting nations did nothing. Then they had an idea. (New York Times)
• The mafia hitman who dreamt of being a pop star: The scarcely believable true story of convicted Israeli assassin Avner Harari. (Financial Times)
• You Really Need to See Epstein’s Birthday Book for Yourself: This time, the conspiracy theorists were right. (The Atlantic)
• What it’s like to watch tennis with Roger Federer: Anyone who imagines Federer — to his loyalists, the greatest player of the modern era, even if Novak Djokovic won more — cloistering himself with masters of the universe in some luxury suite high above the court would be sadly mistaken. (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Jose Minaya, Global Head of BNY Investments and Wealth. He is also a member of BNY’s Executive Committee. Previously, he was CEO of Nuveen, the asset manager of TIAA; Jose previously served as Nuveen’s President and CIO
How does the rally compare to history?
Source: @WarrenPies
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To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.
